Teammates
by sadbird
Summary: Sakura has been trying to understand her teammates ever since she's been assigned to a team, but it is just too hard to break them. Will she succeed? Special moments of Team 7. Sequel to "A Silent Promise" Sasuke is OOC here
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! this is the Sequel of "A Silent Promise" and i hope that you will enjoy it!

**I do not own Naruto**

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_Another mission nearing its end…_

Sakura sighed as she sat on the bank of the river, taking off her sandals. When she dipped her feet into the cool water, she let out a small moan of satisfaction and relief. It was a simple C-rank mission, escorting the son of a feudal lord who barely reaches 3 years of age and until now; the mission has been running smoothly…well, if you don't count the constant crying of the kid that has been driving the boys in her team insane.

"Ugh! I can't take this anymore!" Naruto screamed as he gripped his hair angrily.

The young boy, Hiroku, seemed to be frightened from the dark and no amount of soothing coming from Kakashi could calm him down. Sasuke was leaning against a tree, his eyes closed, although one cannot help but notice the slight twitching of his eyebrows. Kakashi was rubbing his head, puzzled by the strange behavior of Hiroku and trying to find a plan to make him calm down or else an enemy can locate their position any second now. Naruto…well, let's say that his sensitive hearing is both a blessing AND a curse. Sakura has finally has enough of all this and silently made her way to Hiroku to calm him down. Once she made her presence known to everyone, the boy seemed to quiet down and look at her with a tearful face. She smiled down at him and ruffled his brown hair, staring at him with gentle, warm eyes.

"Hiroku-chan, please be quiet. Once you sleep, time will pass by faster and you will be able to see your parents very soon. That's what you want right?"

Her gentle, soothing voice managed to calm down the boy, if only a little, surprising her teammates. She took his small, fragile hand and led him to his own blanket. She started stroking his hair, singing a soft lullaby that instantly made Hiroku relaxed.

_Hush now, my baby  
Be still love, don't cry  
Sleep like you're rocked by the stream  
Sleep and remember  
My lullaby  
And I'll be with you when you dream_

Naruto was looking at her with wide eyes, astonished by her soft, tender voice. As for Sasuke, his motionless stance did not change, but one can see that his tense form slightly drooped, listening to the lullaby Sakura's mother used to sing for her when she was a child. It brought back memories he never wanted to remember.

_Drift on a river  
That flows through my arms  
Drift as I'm singing to you  
I see you smiling  
So peaceful and calm  
And holding you, I'm smiling, too  
Here in my arms  
Safe from all harm  
Holding you, I'm smiling, too_

Kakashi casted a small smile. Sakura was the best at this job and he let out a sigh of relief when the child's wails were reduced to mere whimpers and small sobs. He signaled to Sasuke that he would be scouting the area and keeping watch. When he was sure that his student received his signal, he disappeared, leaving trails of leaves behind.

_Hush now, my baby  
Be still love, don't cry  
Sleep like you're rocked by the stream  
Sleep and remember  
My lullaby  
And I'll be with you when you dream_

Sakura finished the song and glanced at Hiroku nestling on her lap. She gave out a sigh of relief as she scooting him into his blanket and covered him well. She went to get her own blanket to doze off, since she hasn't had any decent sleep for over 3 days now. Once she glanced at her teammates, she directly knew that something was wrong. Naruto was trying to ignore them and Sasuke was staring at the fire intently and absentmindedly, as if he was engaged in deep thinking.

_Huh!?_

She didn't get it. What happened? Deciding to shrug it off, she muttered a good night to both her teammates and huddled into her thick warm blanket. The problem was…nobody wished her a good night back…

Emerald eyes drooped to a darker shade as she couldn't sleep the whole night.

_Did I do something wrong?_

* * *

The mission ended the next day, since Team 7 _woke up_ extra early before waking the boy from his deep slumber. Kakashi stayed with the feudal Lord to finish an S-Rank mission and told them to continue on their way to Konoha. When Team 7 were strolling through the thick forest, Sakura noticed that Naruto was unusually silent.

When the hours of darkness came, Sakura went to collect some fallen branches for the fire while her boys went to hunt for some fish that would fill their growling stomach. It was a huge relief to be alone for a few minutes after that thick, heavy tension and Sakura was thankful. This would give her some time to reminisce back and find out what did she do to make her boys act so strangely.

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Sometime later, a frustrated looking pink-haired kunoichi arrived at the clearing in the forest where she found her teammates working on the fish. She didn't say a single word to them as she readied the fire for Sasuke. Later, Sakura couldn't take the silence anymore. She knew exactly the reason why Naruto and Sasuke were trying to avoid her and once she made sure her temper was in control, she stood up, grabbing both the boys' attention.

"What!?" she yelled before wincing inwardly. _So much for being patient_ her inner Sakura replied.

"Is it me? Is it because I have parents that I am considered different than you?" she couldn't help it. Her voice was getting higher and she didn't give a damn if an enemy found their location.

"I'm sorry for being born in a normal family ok? Ever since I joined your team, I always wanted to blend in and try to understand what you feel every single day of your life. And DON'T--" she raised a single hand towards Sasuke's side and cut him off "tell me I could never know how you feel CAUSE I KNOW I COULD NEVER!" she lay on the ground, really upset and exhausted from all the thinking and trying to get into a conclusion.

"I am your _teammate_! You're both _my_ boys! And I…I…" she looked at both their shocked faces with tearful eyes "I just…love you both so much"

Naruto's eyes widened as he looked at her with disbelief. Did his Sakura-chan just say that she loved him? That couldn't be true…could it? Sasuke just stared at her with his emotionless onyx eyes, but Sakura knew Sasuke for far too long to know that he was affected by her speech.

"I just…can't stand it. I can't stand the idea that you are both so far away from me! I can't stand the idea of being an outsider anymore" she ended her statement with a shrug and left the clearing to contemplate on what she just said. They've been on a team together for a whole year now and the only people getting closer on this team were Naruto and Sasuke. Even Kakashi has been training them more than her. It's just not fair.

* * *

Sakura didn't know how much time has passed with her roaming around the forest. Of course, she kept her guards up for any enemies nearby. When she finally settled for sitting on a small cliff, she sighed. After trying so hard to gain back her friendship with her teammates, she just had to lose her temper and blurt everything out, putting her efforts into the dustbin. She held her bleeding fist she used to punch down several trees and winced when she touched the tender area. She didn't even feel like healing herself because she was too miserable to do so.

_I'm such an idiot. I could never understand what they are going through._

Two familiar figures then decided to sit by her side, making Sakura startled and confused. Without another word shared, Sasuke held Sakura's bleeding fist gently and sighed, but stayed silent as he took out some bandages and tended to her wound. Sakura just stared at him, bewildered and was about to ask them the reason for their presence until…

"I lived all my life hated by the people of my own village" Naruto's voice rang through the chilling air, making Sakura just simply…stare. "I used to hate everyone because I believed they had no reason to treat me like I am some dirt. The first one who ever treated me like a person was Iruka-sensei…"

That was how the night passed; with Naruto filling in the silence with what went on with his life and Sakura listening attentively, almost forgetting that Sasuke was tending to her wounds. Her eyes glittered with hope and determination to make his life worth living it. After what seemed like minutes, when it was in fact hours, Naruto finished his story and stared at Sakura with a small, sad grin. Sakura couldn't help but place a soothing hand on his head and rub it softly, afraid that he might shatter just any moment after what he's gone through.

"5 years ago—"they heard a voice to their right say, making them turn around to the source "—my entire clan was wiped out by my very own brother, Uchiha Itachi. He killed everyone but me because he wanted to know his potential" Sasuke spat, but his eyes soon softened when he looked at the two people who somehow managed to make everyday worthwhile. He looked up at the stars and reminisce his past, but this time, with his _teammates._ After he finished his story, he looked at both of them with calm onyx eyes before looking back at the stars.

Sakura couldn't help but smile. This was everything she ever wanted, sitting with her boys and just plain talking. She gazed at the stars and whispered to them "No matter how dark the night is, dawn will always be on the way" At that time, dawn arrived and the sun started rising right in front of them. It felt as though the sun was able to brighten up their path and warm their frozen hearts.

* * *

The very next day, team 7 finally arrived to Konohagaru, each carrying an aura of peace and relief. Sakura walked in the middle of her two boys, satisfied and filled with happiness. Step one of the phase has been successful. She was able to break their tough barrier and learn about so much from each of them. She will work hard to pull them out of the darkness they have been forced to fall in in their years. They are her most precious people and she would sacrifice every piece of herself to keep the light inside them, no matter how small or weak it may be.

_No matter how dark the night is, dawn will always be on the way…_ yes…Sakura believes that with all her heart.

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Well. There it is. Thank you for whoever read this story.

I will be awaiting any of your reviews.


	2. Let me Take Care of You

Hello everyone. This is the second chapter of "Teammates".

This is a random moment in time where Team 7 inteact with each other and I just want you all to share my vision of this team. Please enjoy

**Disclaimer:** The story and characters don't belong to me.

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"SASUKE! LOOK OUT!" Sakura yelled with all her might as the enemy was about to puncture a hole into Sasuke's chest. Fortunately, he heard her and ducked just in time before giving the final blow to the rogue ninja. Sakura heaved a sigh of relief before jumping out of the way and splitting the ground with her monstrous strength.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" she heard Naruto yell out. Just as he expected, she turned around just in time to plunge her kunai into her attacker's sternum and punching his stomach, rendering him unconscious or, most likely, dead. Naruto secretly let out a sigh of relief once he knew that Sakura was controlling her part of rogue ninjas. However, his inattention to his own caused him to miss the kunai that managed to bury itself into his shoulder. He let out a small yelp of pain, but other than that, he could manage.

The battle continued for what seemed like hours before their mission came to an end and all rogue nins were on the ground, defeated. Sasuke held the scroll in his hand and smirked at his teammates, whom gave him thumbs up and a wide grin.

'_Another successful C-Rank mission! Hell yeah!' _Inner Sakura screamed, punching the air.

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Team 7 has been going on C-rank missions ever since they passed the Chuunin exams. During that time, Sakura became a qualified medical ninja under the supervision of the new Hokage, Tsunade. Sasuke was able to master his sharingan and become one of the strongest chuunins within the Konoha 12, beside Hyuuga Neji. He even had a chance of taking the Juunin Exams, but insisted on taking it with his team members the next fall. On the other hand, Naruto was the most who has changed throughout the sixteen months he has spent with his teammates. He started to open up more often and started to regain his hope of achieving him dream, because of his two teammates.

Also, the three have been looking out for each other during missions so as to not let Sakura waste her chakra healing them for hours. They would always come back to Konoha unscathed…until now.

"NARUTO NO BAKA! You should have been more careful with that guy! Do NOT take your attention away from your battle! You were lucky it was only a shoulder injury!" Sakura yelled out, glaring down at Naruto, who sat cross legged with his head down. Sasuke just stood on the side, his hands in his pockets, smirking down at the two.

"Sorry Sakura-chan. But I couldn't help it! I wanted to make sure you were okay! And it's not like it's a serious injury!" he retorted, staring at his bloodied shoulder. Sakura just sighed and kneeled down to start the process of healing the injury, not like she had to try hard since his wound has already started healing by itself.

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Several hours later, Team 7 was walking the road towards The Hidden Leaf Village with an infuriated Sakura in the middle, fuming over their last battle. Naruto was staring at the ground, lost in his own world while Sasuke was trying to ignore them both.

"We agreed that each one of us will focus on his own battle! Naruto was only lucky he was able to escape a possible death blow!" yelled Sakura, clenching her fists tightly and glaring at her boys.

"This will not happen again, okay?" she whispered and stopped to check if there was a possibility she may have missed healing any injury on her boys. Their silence caught her attention and her eyes narrowed once she noticed them avoiding any possible eye contact with her. Sakura's eyes narrowed.

"Guys…." She started, but Naruto interrupted whatever she was going to say.

"Sakura-chan. You can't stop neither me or Sasuke from protecting you. No matter how powerful you get. We will always protect you, because you are Sakura-chan" Naruto's eyes showed much determination and it was obvious to Sakura that he was serious. She stole a glance a glance at Sasuke and saw him give a small nod, for once agreeing to what the "Dobe" said.

"Knowing that he won't exactly be much of a hand, I have no choice but to make it my duty to watch your back as well…just in case the Dobe fails" Sasuke stressed out the last part and showed his trademark smirk. Naruto was obviously infuriated at his rival as he stomped towards him. As expected, a huge argument has started between the two, names and insults being thrown at one another (half-heartedly) meant nothing new to their female comrade.

Sakura didn't know what to say after Naruto's little speech, but she realized something she never had. As Naruto flailed his arms vigorously, trying to make a point to his rival, Sakura smiled. Her teammates acknowledge her strength and don't think of her as the frail Sakura she used to be.

'_Guess I am important to them as they are to me.' _She thought as she walked behind them, watching their backs. Her cheeks colored slightly at her new discovery.

"I'll tell you what we should do from now on." Sakura said all of a sudden, disrupting both her teammates' heated quarrel. They stopped a couple of feet away and stared, waiting for her to continue on with her little speech. Sakura couldn't help but let out a huge grin.

"You take care of me during battle, and let me take care of you in Konoha." Without waiting for an answer, she left her stunned boys and started skipping happily towards Konoha, scroll now in her hand.

'_Yes, I will take care of you both and make sure that nothing, absolutely nothing, would break your arising spirits. I will make sure of that' _Sakura nodded unconsciously, contented with her resolution.

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'_Let me take care of you."_

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Thank you for everyone who took the time to read this :) I will be posting more Team 7 moments and of course it would be a bit more interesting than this. I am still trying to enhance my english writing and I would accept all comments from you.


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